The beaver is the biggest rodent in America and it is the second largest rodent in the world. Beavers weigh forty to seventy pounds. They grow to be four feet long. The beaver’s fur is a dark chestnut brown. Some of the adaptations beavers have are their tails, which is used as a fifth leg and can be used when swimming as a rudder. Its webbed feet help it move fast in the water. They are built to swim and work underwater so their nose and ear valves close when they are under water. They have round heads and flat tails. The beaver’s back feet are webbed but the front feet aren’t. They can hold their breath for up to fifteen minutes. They have a scent gland near their genitals that puts out an oily gist called castoreum that helps waterproof their fur.

 

Beavers live in ponds and streams in wooded areas such as forests. They also can make their homes in swamps or marshes. They do well in their ecosystem because they are designed for water. They spend most of their time in the water. The European beaver can be found mostly in France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Scandinavia. The American beaver can be found in the woodlands of Mexico, Alaska, and Canada. There is an estimated amount of about ten to fifteen million beavers. People say that there was probably ten times that amount in North America before the fur trade. They are starting to kind of shrink because they are a problem to farmers. When they dam the river it can create flooding killing their crops. Now they have humane traps or they shoot the beavers. They do help our forests because their dams can filter water. Their dams have been called Earth’s kidney’s.

 

Beavers mainly eat inner roots of trees; bushes, green bark, twigs, leaves, water lily tubers, clovers, apples and their favorite tress are aspens and cottonwoods. They get their food because it grows in their habitat. Not many animals eat the things they eat so they really only compete with other beavers. The beaver’s main predators are bears, lynxes, otters, wolverines, wolves, people, mountain lions, coyotes, and bobcats. They avoid being eaten by spending most of their time in the water. Plus, no other animal can swim under and get in their dam. So that’s how they stay safe. When they are out of the water they are very easy to get because they are slow on land. What really stood out about my animal was that when they build their dams it does really good things such as making homes for other organisms and filtering out the water. Their dams can also do bad things like kill crops. I learned that beavers could weigh forty to seventy pounds. They can hold their breath under water for fifteen minutes.

 

Author: Shannen L

Published: 02/2007

 

Sources: www.Beavers.org/beavers.html www.enwikipedia.org/wiki/beaver www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/wetlands/beavers/beavdams.html Scholastic Encyclopedia of Animals by Laurence Pringle and photographs by Norbert Wu Photo Credit:

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Photo by Stephen F. Miller Jr., taken 11:35 July 6th 2006